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Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Top 25 TV Shows: Part 2

A British comedy about the IT (Information Technologies) department at Reynholm Industries, a fictional corporation in London, The IT Crowd is one of the pure funniest TV shows ever made. With a zany style all its own, The IT Crowd is a unique comedy to be sure. Instead of going the route of quantity over quality, like many US sitcoms, The IT Crowd only features 24 episodes over 4 seasons. Each episode is a setup to several big jokes with the punchline at the end, with many smaller hilarious jokes intertwined. Describing how the series' humor works is difficult, but if you are up for some wacky and occasionally surreal comedy that defies conventions, watch The IT Crowd.

Warning: The IT Crowd is intended for mature audiences. There are occasional uses of strong profanity, as well as potentially offensive humor (but what comedy doesn't have that?).

Watch on: Netflix, Hulu

19: The Office

Of all the many comedies that I have seen, no other comedy features characters with the level of development that The Office displays. Yes, The Office is hysterical, especially seasons 2-7, and it is full of jokes and quotes that left me in stitches. However, what sets it apart is how you care about the characters as they live their lives and the drama that follows, along with the great comedy. Unfortunately, after Steve Carell left, the series' writing took a massive drop in quality to the point where it was not even funny during the middle portion of the final season. Despite that, The Office is one of my favorite comedies with some of my favorite characters in television.Watch on: Netflix, Hulu

18: The Flash

While Arrow started CW’s DC-verse, The Flash launched it into the mainstream with, arguably, DC’s best live-action hero. The Flash’s first season took some cues from the MCU and actually made a DC series with fun, humor, likable characters, and heroism. Grant Gustin portrays a brilliant Barry Allen, aka The Flash with humor and likeability not found in other DC works. Season 1 really embracing on the full-on comic book-y fun not found in many TV superhero shows. Unfortunately, Season 2 is struggling a bit more with the writing, especially compared to Marvel’s massive improvements in all of its TV shows. However, The Flash still delivers superhero fun each week with DC’s best on-screen hero to date.

Watch on: Netflix, Hulu, CW

17: The Walking Dead

Despite my initial hesitation about watching the series, The Walking Dead turned out to be a very entertaining television series. At one point, The Walking Dead ranked much higher on my list. Unfortunately, in spite of the likable characters, the series’ writing has been up and down throughout the five seasons. Sometimes, it is thrilling and terrifying in the way a zombie series should be, while other times it can be really dumb. With that said, The Walking Dead is a special series and there is nothing else like it.

Watch on: Netflix, AMC

16: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. started a bit rough. The first half of the first season really lost many viewers, which is unfortunate. As the series continues in the aftermath of The Winter Soldier, it departs from the more lighthearted exploits of the early episodes. In seasons two and three, the series continues to improve with stronger characterization and some truly great usage of Marvel properties on television. In fact, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is easily one of, if not, the best show on network TV. Unfortunately, no one is watching it and judges the series based on that first weak season.

Watch on: Netflix, Hulu, ABC

Are any of these your favorites? Please comment below and let me know!